Today's small boats, such as kayaks, canoes, and rafts are often heavy, bulky, and hard to transport and carry. If the user is lacking in experience, they can be difficult and dangerous to maneuver. Kayak designs have always leaned towards high-tech designs, and consequently, high consumer cost.
Most such small boats are made of rigid materials, and may have sharp objects attached, which can cut and bruise the user. Canoes are also relatively expensive and require skill to avoid capsizing. Because of this, many people, and particularly children, cannot get out on the water, limiting the sport to the more daring and skilled and/or to those able to make substantial expenditures of money for their watercraft.
As a way around the above problems, the plastic foam boat provides the user or users with a lightweight watercraft that is easy to transport and carry, soft to the touch, and very stable and easy to maneuver in water. Foam boats can be produced relatively inexpensively compared to the usual structure of kayaks and canoes. Their appearance is non-threatening and pleasing to the eye. Plastic foam boats can be made in many colors and color combinations, shapes and sizes.
The principal drawback of the plastic foam boats that have been available on the market is that they are designed to sell at a very low price and are quite fragile. Most have been quite small, made of styrofoam, and are useful only as children's toys for use in shallow pools or small ponds.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a boat and method of manufacturing same which is inherently safer to use, particularly for children or the inexperienced, than the usual canoe or kayak.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a boat and method of manufacturing it which is lighter in weight and easier to carry and transport than the usual small boat.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a boat of plastic foam construction, which enjoys the weight and safety advantages of plastic foam, but which is significantly more durable than plastic foam boats, which have heretofore been available.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a boat meeting the above objects and which is substantially less expensive than canoes, kayaks or conventional boats of wood, glass fiber, or aluminum construction.
Other objects and advantages will become apparent from consideration of the following description taken in connection with the drawings.